With a new school board set to take office this week, the Hartford, Conn., district is winding up a year of dramatic leadership changes. Not only will the event mark the end of a five-year state takeover, it also comes on the heels of the resignation of Superintendent Anthony S. Amato, who is credited with putting student performance on an upward climb.
What鈥檚 more, Mr. Amato鈥檚 exit followed that of Edwin Vargas, the local teachers鈥� union president whose alliance with the superintendent had been held up as a model of labor-management cooperation.
The leadership shuffle in the 24,500-student district poses a real test for Connecticut鈥檚 largest school system. With the departure of many of the actors who played lead roles in the district鈥檚 turnaround, the question now is whether Hartford can build on its current momentum, or if it will lose its hard-fought gains.
Already, the new regime faces some potentially divisive issues, including a districtwide plan to change school attendance zones. One group of Hartford residents was shaken enough by the power shift to file a lawsuit seeking to extend the state takeover past its legislated deadline.
鈥淚 think a lot of parents are really nervous and skeptical,鈥� said Hartford parent Tammy Joyner. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know what to expect at this point.鈥�
But state and local leaders say they鈥檝e taken steps to ensure that the Hartford schools don鈥檛 lapse into old habits. Particularly promising, they say, was the quick decision last month by the state-appointed panel that has overseen the district to name Mr. Amato鈥檚 chief of staff, Robert Henry, as the new superintendent.
鈥淲e have to be careful to make sure that folks do understand that despite how things might appear to be fragile, the system is poised to move ahead,鈥� Mr. Henry said in a recent interview. 鈥淓verything has happened in a relatively orderly way.鈥�
Plenty to Lose
Leadership transition is a growing quandary in urban education. The experience of an increasing number of large districts suggests that who鈥檚 in charge plays a crucial role in jump-starting improvement. But what happens when the leader who fixed things moves on?
鈥淲e鈥檝e only recently been figuring out how to reform these systems,鈥� said Michael D. Casserly, the president of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents 58 large urban districts. 鈥淢ost big-city districts don鈥檛 have a lot of experience on how to sustain gains from one administration to another.鈥�
Hartford surely would like to stay on its present course. Once the lowest-performing system in Connecticut, its students have, over the past five years, exceeded the state鈥檚 average increases on statewide assessments by more than 5 percentage points in grades 4, 6, and 8. Gains in achievement at the high school level have been less impressive, but Hartford鈥檚 graduation rates have begun to rise.
By most accounts, those gains were made possible by two big steps: the 1997 state takeover that disbanded a fractious, locally elected school board, and the decision in 1999 by the state-appointed board of trustees to hire Mr. Amato.
The former superintendent from New York City鈥檚 Community School District 6 brought to Hartford a relentless new focus on student performance. He ordered that schools spend more time on basic skills, that students learn test-taking techniques, and that children needing remediation get help both during and after school. (鈥淯nder Amato, Hartford Schools Show Progress,鈥� March 1, 2000.)
A believer in using common instructional programs across the district, Mr. Amato early on won favor from the Hartford Federation of Teachers by getting virtually all elementary schools to use Success for All, a union-endorsed reading program.
鈥淭hey have seen a lot of success in the last couple years,鈥� said Theodore J. Sergi, Connecticut鈥檚 commissioner of education, whose agency has lent considerable technical support to Hartford over the past five years. 鈥淎nd they know what it takes to keep that up, even though some changes are in store.鈥�
Not everyone is convinced that the Hartford schools are ready to strike out on their own. Eight local residents have sought to block the return to local control in a lawsuit filed in a Hartford-based state trial court. A state superior court judge last week heard arguments on a state motion to dismiss their request to keep the new school board from being sworn in as planned on Dec. 3.
鈥淭he gains are minuscule, and that鈥檚 not what the takeover set out to do,鈥� said Alyssa Peterson, a plaintiff in the suit. 鈥淭he powers that the state had are still needed to accomplish the huge changes that are needed.鈥�
Safeguards
But the state isn鈥檛 completely washing its hands of the district. For three more years, monitors from the state education department will continue to visit the Hartford schools and attend key decisionmaking meetings in the system. Commissioner Sergi also will meet monthly with district leaders.
Moreover, the new school board was engineered so as to avoid some of the political pitfalls of the past. The state鈥檚 takeover legislation set up an interim structure for the panel through 2005, in which four members are elected and three are appointed by the mayor. After that鈥攂ased on an amendment to the city鈥檚 charter passed by voters last month鈥� the mayor will appoint a majority of the members of a nine-person school board.
The hope is that the new mix will result in less infighting. The move will also add Hartford to a growing list of cities鈥攊ncluding Chicago, Cleveland, and New York鈥攚here mayors have gained control over local schools.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing here is putting greater accountability for the schools on the Hartford mayor,鈥� Mr. Sergi said. 鈥淎nd that appears to have had some success elsewhere.鈥�
Still not wanting to leave things to chance, though, Mr. Sergi held an orientation session for 10 of the candidates who ran for the four elected school board seats. Incoming board members also met with the outgoing board of trustees, including Thomas Ritter, a former speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives who chaired the panel. Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez named his three board members last week.
鈥淭he important thing,鈥� Mr. Ritter said he told them, 鈥渋s to let the superintendent run the system.鈥�
But perhaps the biggest hedge against backsliding is Mr. Henry, the new district chief. Rather than appoint an interim schools chief in the wake of Mr. Amato鈥檚 Oct. 28 resignation, the state board of trustees immediately gave his second-in-command a three-year contract as superintendent. The move sent a powerful message that although Hartford鈥檚 turnaround superintendent was gone, the course he had set for the district would continue.
鈥淥ne of the reasons we let Tony [Amato] explore other options is I felt we had the best backup team in the country,鈥� Mr. Ritter said.
A native of Costa Rica, Mr. Henry rose through the ranks in New York City from a bilingual classroom assistant to serve as the superintendent of Community School District 12. In 1999, Mr. Amato hired him away from the Cleveland public schools, where he had worked briefly as a regional administrator. While Mr. Amato focused on Hartford鈥檚 instructional programs, Mr. Henry managed the district鈥檚 day-to-day operations.
鈥淭he fact that I鈥檓 familiar with all of the initiatives that have been put in place makes it a lot easier,鈥� said Mr. Henry, who is 54. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to bring in a whole new set of activities.鈥�
Nor must he hire his own management team. Most of the top administrators brought to Hartford in recent years remain. Mr. Henry also notes that half of the district鈥檚 principals were assigned to their current jobs under Mr. Amato鈥檚 watch. That, in and of itself, ensures some school-level commitment to the instructional practices put in place in the past 31/2 years.
Different Styles
Regardless, Hartford鈥檚 new superintendent knows he鈥檒l be operating in an environment different from the one his predecessor found. Mr. Henry won鈥檛 enjoy the political cover afforded by the state board of trustees. And he takes the helm just as some contentious policies must be carried out, including the plan to reduce overcrowding at some schools by redrawing attendance zones.
And as elsewhere, Hartford鈥檚 budget climate has worsened of late.
Mr. Henry also faces an uncertain relationship with the teachers鈥� union. Over time, the perception among many teachers that Mr. Amato ruled with an iron fist became a liability for Mr. Vargas, the president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers who had backed the superintendent.
In an election this past April, Mr. Vargas was toppled by Tim Murphy, an activist who calls Mr. Amato 鈥渁uthoritarian鈥� and boasts that more labor grievances have been filed since he became union president. Said Mr. Murphy: 鈥淭he exploitation of teachers is going to stop.鈥�
But some who know Mr. Henry say he is well- suited to smooth ruffled feathers while keeping things on track. State and city leaders often describe him as a listener, a label rarely given to Mr. Amato.
鈥淚 think [Mr. Amato鈥檚] style of operating was right at the time that he was here,鈥� said Robert E. Long, one of the newly elected school board members. 鈥淣ow, I think Robert Henry is the perfect gentleman for leveling us off and making things a little less hectic.鈥�
Indeed, critics of Mr. Amato鈥檚 brusque approach became more vocal in the months leading up to his resignation. He also drew complaints for applying for superintendencies in other cities. In the end, the superintendent resigned after Mayor Perez told him to do some 鈥渟oul searching,鈥� the mayor said.
Mr. Amato said he planned a more inclusive management approach going into 鈥減hase two鈥� of Hartford鈥檚 transformation. But, he added, 鈥淚 was symbolic of the state takeover, and I accepted that as a reality.鈥�
Still living in Hartford and 鈥渏ust weighing options,鈥� Mr. Amato said he鈥檚 confident the district will continue its progress. 鈥淭here are things that have been institutionalized that are not going to go away, because the infrastructure is there,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou would literally have to blow them out of the school for them to go away.鈥�
